Discussion: The Dangers of Tapering

If you ever had any unvoiced doubts about the wisdom of tapering before a big race, then you should definitely consider Peter Gagarin's recent training log entry, which makes it clear that tapering can be bad for your health.

One wonders what other training myths will be debunked next. Carbo-loading? Interval training? Sleep? Abstinence?

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I'm not convinced that tapering is behind this. I think it's all the golf.

Abstinence from what?

Complete abstinence would work...

Abstinence as a training tool? Does it work even if you don't have to work at it?

It works best if you have to work hard at it--very hard. You persevere and tell yourself you have to be strong, even though every fiber of your being is eroding your resolve from the inside. You work so hard, and just when you think you've held firm, you are overcome by your lower self, and you exhault in surrender.

Yep, that works great. I mean, hypothetically, I bet it would work great...yeah.

Depends on what you going to train.

I've been abstaining from training for years. It just doesn't work. (Look at my results; look hard - WAY down the list of any event I entered.)

A month!?! Green peppers are 1/3 of the holy trinity of cajun cooking. Everything has green peppers in it - even peach cobbler! Leaving out the green peppers would be like having a 2-legged 3-legged dog, or Peter, Paul and Nothing! Some people watch gas prices or the stock market to gauge the condition of the economy. I watch the price of green peppers at the Food Lion. And lemmie tell you, its been a terrible year despite what president Moron says. But maybe you meant just no green peppers on *pizza*? Otherwise my friend, if you can pull that off you are a Saint among men. Truly, a Saint.

I will admit that if I logged my golf last week on AttackPoint -- which is no more foolish an idea than some of the other stuff that gets logged -- then I would have been right at the top of the list in terms of hours trained.

And it's quality training. Hills, intervals, and even (given how straight I hit the ball) more time than I wish spent in the forest. Plus the visual training, the pressure (of the wagers, that is),.... wasn't it Spike that said golf is just like orienteering? Or maybe it was Eric W.

Plus it was my earliest training (about 40 years ago) with a much needed reflex when faced with imminent doom -- shutting your eyes. See, there was this rock just ahead of my ball (I was in the woods, of course), but I figured I'd clear it, so I took a full swing. Nope, off the rock straight back at me, hit me square in the left eye, but I had blinked. The lens in my glasses was shattered and I spend the next few minutes picking bits of glass out of my eyebrow and eye lashes, but no harm done.

I think/hope I blinked on Sunday. I can just barely get the eye open, and the vision seems a little off. I'll know better in a day or two.

And I hadn't thought about whisky. All I've been guzzling is vitamin I.

I think we need a status photo each day so we can gauge the progress. Just think - after a few weeks we can play it in reverse for Halloween. Try to keep the same pose and lighting each day. Wearing the same shirt would be a nice touch too.

Well, here is yesterday's (after 24 hours) (compare to Sunday). Hadn't posted it because it didn't seem much different, though Gail says there was more swelling. Better make faster progress if I'm going to run this weekend at the Boulder Dash.

Sorry, the shirt has been washed, also the pants which had quite a lot of blood on them.

Today's photo will come later. Gail says there's a lot less swelling but it still looks pretty ugly.

If this had to happen, it's a good thing it was in the fall, rather then the early spring. Imagine little old ladies going in to have their taxes done and confronting that mug.

I think this whole tapering/race thing is a ruse. Rather, I suspect that Mr. Gagarin's newly ugly mug may have been caused by alleged (although unsubstantiated) errors, omissions, or misrepresentations he committed in his capacity as NGPC.

Good to see the latest photo. Things look back to normal.

OK, so you want to know what really happened on Sunday, at least what I can remember --

I don't see why you're so upset, Sarah. I just asked you to run with Swampfox once.

Yes, I know I said he was a cool guy.

Well, cool, weird, yeah, whatever, maybe he's a little strange.

But I told you it was part of the long-term project to develop the world's best orienteer in the next generation, and he can read a map, and you're fast.

Oh, I didn't tell you that.

Sarah, what are you holding that baseball bat for?

Sarah, no, No!

Oh, shit.

I always knew the NGPC was a first-rate guy. See, we didn’t even need to waste the taxpayers’ money on a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of things.

So either Sarah is a lefty, or Peter turned-tail and tried to run for it. Either way the Yanks should have signed her before yesterday. Too bad.

Sarah may be a lefty, or just have a vicious backhand.

Well, here is today's (after 48 hours), looking almost healed. But still taking lots of vitamin I, and the vision seems a little blurry. Got an appointment with the eye doctor tomorrow.

Not sure which side Sarah normally swings from, it all happened so fast. One moment everything was fine, the next moment I was on the floor. Maybe Swampfox knows.

Wow! greatly improved since yesterday. I assume you'll be ready to lead with your face again by Saturday.

Great improvement - even a bit of eye showing? But still, perhaps a helmut and face guard might appropriate for the weekend.

Well, here is today's mug shot (after 72 hours). Went and saw the eye doctor, who didn't find any damage other than a couple of small broken blood vessels on the outside, but my vision leaves a lot to be desired. Give it some time, he said.

I sure am glad I can laugh about this some, because otherwise it would be pretty depressing. AttackPoint is good therapy.

It's good the fashion season is just about over because you might just lose your Versace contract if you don't shape up soon.

I'll have you know I'm pulling out all stops to speed my recovery, including no golf! Though the fact that my head hurts, I can't see well, and, oh yeah, it's been raining every day forever, all may have something to do with it.

So, whaddya think for the Boulder Dash? Rogaine glasses?

Excellent! You're starting to have that Uni-bomber look about you...

Hey, you're back. Sarah sends her best.